The eight best entries in the Van Diemen History Prize 2022-2023 as selected by judges Tony Fenton, Dr Kristyn Harman, Kirstie Ross and Chris Champion (Editor, Forty South Tasmania). 

The entries from joint winners, Philippa Moore (Anatomy of a Scandal: A love triangle in 1820s Hobart Town) and Terry Mulhern (A difficult birth: The Van Diemen’s Land Company, 1824-25) are set at opposite ends of the state. Melanie Roylance (Commended) writes about World War I warrior priest, Frank Pogson Bethune, who tended the quiet parish of Ranelagh. You can also read about Messiah and Black Bella, two characters involved in a drunken riot and a kangaroo court at Trial Harbour in 1881. All in all, these eight histories on wide-ranging themes, will take the reader on a historical journey around the state and across several time periods.

Entries include:

Ray Bassett (Gold amongst the tin)

Carla Baker (Mysterious broken binding proves a silver lining)

Anne Lee-Archer (Theatre Royal Hobart: The architectural influence of William Gore Ellison, John Lee Archer and Samuel Beazley and their passion for the Arts)

Guy Salvidge (“Pardoned to serve His Majesty by sea” The life of George Briggs)

Sarah White (Port Arthur or Carnarvon: The changing landscape of a former penal settlement)